Who Named Alfred Hitchcock’s Board Game ‘Why’.
And he’s a great first baseman.
Alfred Hitchcock was the master of mystery, suspense and horror. His iconic profile at the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is so etched into pop culture that I recognized the image before I even knew who Al was.
Unlike many other suspense films, once you really dive into the works of Alfred Hitchcock, you realize he was less concerned about the Who and the Where, but more interested in the…
Why was released in 1958 and is a competitive roll-to-move game with set collecting and memory mechanics. The goal of each player is to collect a ghost, a weapon and a motive. The first player to do this wins.
Each player begins with a hand of 7 Why cards, which depict a variety of things.
During setup, the cards are set in piles around the board in the various rooms. Why uses a standard roll-to-move mechanic and entering one of these rooms allows a player to draw a card from the pile of Why cards in that room. Then, from the cards in their hand, they will choose a card they do not want, show it to all players, then place the card facedown anywhere off the board. Other players will have to remember which card that was.
It was the 50’s. Just roll with it.
Anytime a player enters the Living Room, they can attempt to gather evidence from the lawn. They reveal a card from their hand and then point to a card on the lawn. If the card they point to is the same as the card they revealed, they get to gain that card. The player may continue this process for as long as they continue to guess correctly. Similarly, players who meet in the hallway go thought a Go Fish sort of routine with declaring a card to the other player, which must be handed over if held.
“Won’t you please give me all of your poison?”
Players are attempting to collect cards and complete sets of a ghost and a weapon and then find a motive. Alternatively, they can find the “It’s A Mystery To Me” card and complete the Hitchcock profile set. The first player to accomplish one of these things wins!
Final Thoughts
More than anything, Why is a memory game, if that’s how the players choose to jump into it. Having dozens of cards scattered across the lawn can make for a real challenging experience. I also really like the multiple win conditions, even if they are basically the same thing. Having options is rarely a bad thing.
Overall, Why is pretty solid, especially considering it was released 60 years ago. As with many retro board games, could be a great drinking game.
Thanks for reading!
